Systematic effort by PM to cripple party financially before polls: Congress
Congress alleges that BJP "has looted donations" given to the party by the public by freezing its accounts and forcibly withdrawing Rs 115.32 crore from them
Systematic efforts are under way by the Narendra Modi government to cripple the Congress financially, party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Rahul Gandhi claimed in a joint press conference on Thursday (March 21).
“Impact on democracy”
“The issue we are taking up today is extremely serious. This issue impacts not just the Indian National Congress, but our democracy itself, most fundamentally,” said former party chief Sonia Gandhi.
“A systematic effort is under way by the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] to cripple the Indian National Congress financially. Funds collected from the public are being frozen and money from our accounts is being taken away forcibly,” she added.
Can’t spend money on polls: Rahul
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said: “All accounts of the Congress have been frozen a month before the elections. We can’t book advertising slots for the poll campaign, we can’t give money to our candidates and workers for the election, we can’t even send our leaders by train for campaigning. All this has happened and every institution — the courts and the Election Commission — are silent.”
“This is a criminal action on the Congress party and it is a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister [Amit Shah]. It's very clear. This type of activity does not happen without them in today's India. The idea that India is a democracy is a lie today,” he added.
Maken’s allegation
All India Congress Committee treasurer Ajay Maken said a penalty of Rs 210 crore has been levied on the Congress against an income tax discrepancy of Rs 14 lakh (0.07% of total IT valuation).
In Maken's statement released for the Press, the party alleged: “The BJP has looted the donations given to the Congress party by the common public by freezing our accounts and forcibly withdrawing 115.32 crores from them.”
It claimed that no political party, including the BJP, pays income tax because they do not come under its purview, but the Congress’s 11 bank accounts have been frozen, that too before the Lok Sabha polls.
Crippled finances
The party cited the example of FY 2017-18, when lien on Rs 210 crore was marked in its 11 accounts in four banks. The party claims the reason cited is that of the total receipt of Rs 199 crore it received, Rs 14.49 lakh was in cash. “This cash component is just 0.07% of the total donations. And the punishment was 106%!” it has pointed out.
“We received the Rs 199 crore donation in 2017-18, but after 7 years, on February 13, 2024, 210.25 crore lien was marked, our bank accounts were virtually sealed, and later, Rs 115.32 crore was forcibly confiscated,” it has alleged.
“The lien was marked in such a way, that it not only sealed Rs 210 crore, but also prevented Congress from using its deposited amounts of Rs 285 crores. This virtually crippled the finances of the principal opposition party,” it added in the Press release.
Notice for 1993-94
The party also alleges that only last week, it received fresh notice from the I-T department for FY 1993-94, asking it to calculate the penal charges for FY 1993-94.
The party argued that it will eventually get relief in court, but by then “the Lok Sabha elections will be over and the principal Opposition party of the country will remain crippled”. It will not even be able to campaign.